Singing Lessons, Part 1

Last night, I had my first voice lesson with my new teacher, J.

First, let me tell you about J. J has been WH's friend for a long time. She is a very fine soprano and early music specialist. She's also 8 months pregnant, so we will have a few lessons now before the baby is born, and then perhaps a few lessons through the summer when we're both in town, and then we might continue with lessons regularly in the Fall, as our schedules allow. She is an excellent teacher, and to say that I'm excited to study with her would be an understatement.

I was nervous yesterday, mostly because one never knows what to expect from a new experience, and because it's intimidating to sing alone in front of a new person, no matter who that person is.

The lesson went very, very well. We worked a lot on technique, and identified that effective breathing and tension are probable the two areas in which I'll need to put in the most conscious work. Then we chose some repertoire to work on this week - a German piece by Brahms and the Mendelssohn "O For the Wings of a Dove" from Hear My Prayer, which is beautiful!

When I got home and told WH what I was going to be working on for the week, he remarked that the Mendelssohn was always hot property for the boy soprano soloists when he sang in the Cathedral boys choir as a child. So I asked him if he had ever sung it, and he replied, "Oh, I didn't just sing that solo; I OWNED that solo." And then he rushed downstairs to find the cassette on which his performance had been recorded.

And own it, he did indeed!!